[Clinical application for gene therapy in prostate cancer]

Hormone treatment, radiotherapy and anti-cancer chemotherapy are often used to treat prostate cancer. However, there is no effective method of treating hormone-independent prostate cancer. In this study, we attempted to establish a new treatment method for hormone-independent prostate cancer. We developed a new recombinant adenovirus vector containing a suicide gene and controlled by a tissue specific promoter, and examined the usefulness of gene therapy for hormone-independence and PSA expression in prostate cancer. We have also examined the usefulness of gene therapy involving an adenovirus and various tumor suppressor genes for human prostate cancer cells, which are under trial in the United States.